Looking out for the League

EFL
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB	RS	RA
Old Detroit Wolverines	72	31	.701	—	587.8	383.9
Flint Hill Tornadoes	69	34	.671	3	533.9	370.5
D.C. Balk	63	37	.635	7.2	554.0	420.8
Peshastin Pears	63	38	.628	7.7	499.1	388.5
Kaline Drive	63	40	.616	8.7	546.8	432.2
Haviland Dragons	60	43	.584	12	524.2	455.7
Canberra Kangaroos	57	43	.569	13.7	511.4	453.9
Cottage Cheese	55	47	.544	16.2	585.2	548.9
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	53	49	.520	18.6	511.2	488.9
Bellingham Cascades	52	50	.506	20.1	427.0	423.7
Portland Rosebuds	45	56	.441	26.6	513.9	585.5

 

Old Detroit: W 2, L 0; 16 – 4.  (48 PA, .395, .458, .628;  8 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA.)  It was Walker Buehler’s birthday yesterday – his 27^th – and he celebrated in a big way, tossing 7 scoreless innings to lead the suddenly surging Wolverines to a two-win day.  Wolverine hitters went in on a very nice birthday present for Walker, with 9 of their 11 hitters getting hits.  Austin Riley homered, Will Smith tripled, and Rafael Devers had 2 of the W’s 5 doubles.  The W’s two shortstops continued their resurgence, Correa going 3 for 4 with a double and a walk, and Crawford going 2 for 5.

The result was a big gain in the standings for the W’s.  Some may tie this to Eloy Jimenez’ return to the lineup. That’s a possibility, although he and James McCann went 0 for 3 yesterday.  I tend to think it’s more due to Crawford and Correa facing off against one another in the fireworks-filled Mariners v.  Astros series in Seattle over the weekend.  They had both been in terrible slumps, but playing opposite each other provided some friendly rivalry, and both responded well.  Correa went 6 for 15 with 3 double and a walk (.400, .436, .600) over the three games, while Crawford went 6 for 13 with a double a walk, and a HBP (.462, .533, .529).

Or maybe yesterday’s outstanding result was a simple (but very nice) birthday present from the cosmos for Walker Buehler.  Wouldn’t it be great if everyone could get gifts as nice as that on their birthdays?   

So – could Jamie be grumbling about Walker Buehler’s nice birthday present?  Or the W’s shortstops’ escaping their slumps? Or Eloy’s rapid recovery from his injury?  All of these are good things, people thriving, doing well, enjoying life.  Surely a generous soul like Jamie would not begrudge these people their joys. The fly in Jamie’s ointment has got to be something else.

 

Flint Hill:  W 1, L 1;  8  – 6.  (62 PA, .196, .274, .232;  6.7 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).   Walker Buehler had a great day — Baseball Reference gave it a 77 game score.  But the Tornados’ Sean Manaea’s start was rated 78 to take “best of the day” honors.  Manaea only got through 6 innings, but he allowed 1 hit (to Buehler’s 3), struck out 9 (to Buehler’s 8) and walked one (to Buehler’s 2).  I’ll take the extra inning, but I don’t think I can say Buehler pitched better than Manaea, since Buehler’s seventh inning comes with two hits and a walk, and an extra four balls in play – which makes Walker’s shutout more luck-dependent than Sean’s.

So Jamie’s discontent can’t be with Tornado pitching.  How about their hitting?  Well, the T’s amassed a Kaline-esque 62 plate appearances, a great total, enough to cover both games played yesterday.  Bo Bichette went 2 for 5 with 1 walk and 2 stolen bases, so one of his shortstops kept up with the Wolverine pair.  The slash line is a bit ugly but (with judicious benchings) it was enough to produce almost 8 runs over two games, and secure a win.  Sure, the Tornados lost 0.8 games in the standings, but that’s a mere wobble in the data.  Is Jamie discouraged by data wobbles?

 

DC:  “L”, 10 – 6  (46 PA, .333, .391, .476;  1.7 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).  Here’s the league’s third straight team with 0.00 ERA on the day!  Go EFL!   That and a strong day at the plate, highlighted by a Matt Chapman homer and pesky Myles Straw’s 2 for 5 with two stolen bases, permitted the Balk to significantly outscore their opponents, and leapfrog the Pears into third place.

The Balk did lose 0.8 games in the standings, which isn’t a positive.  And even if it’s only a wobble, wobbles are harder to take when they are edging your team out of the heart of the pennant race.  There’s also this:  Abraham Toro (featured in Jamie’s post yesterday) bumped DC’s Shed Long off second base, where Toro played (and now qualifies to play in the EFL: give him a 6.0 at 2b, please, Dave).  That’s hard on Shed, and on whomever Shed displaced when he lined up in left field.

So maybe Jamie is upset over Jerry Dipoto going off his meds and succumbing to his trading disorder at Shed Long’s expense.

 

Peshastin: W (-1), L 2:  3 – 11. (27 PA, .217, .296, .304;  7.3 I, 8 er, 9.86 ERA).  The Pears’ lost win and double loss is undoubtedly a hard thing.  I even heard Phil moan a bit about this in the midst of a Settlers game last night.  I didn’t realize then how much cause Phil had to moan: the combination of a Blake Snell meltdown (4 ip, 7 er) and a weak day at the plate.  The saddest part of the latter was Pear Mariners  Mitch Haniger and Tom Murphy combining to go 0 for 8, torpedoing both the Pears and the Mariners, while both are on the edge of pennant races, trying to force their way in.

Maybe this is the source of Jamie’s heartache: his empathy for the Pears’ plight, including collapsing 1.9 games further from first place in a single day.

 

Kaline: “L”, 7 – 4. (67 PA, .311, .358, .557;  12 ip, 7 er, 5.25 ERA).  Jamie no doubt saw how Kaline’s Kwang Hyun Kim suffered yesterday, surrendering 5 earned runs in 2.7 innings pitched, shackling Kaline’s drive to keep up in the pennant race.  Jamie was ready to celebrate the Drive’s fine performance at the plate, in which 13 (!) Drives reached base safely, including 7 doubles, a triple, and two home runs (Yuli Gurriel and Daulton Varsho).

Maybe Jamie was exasperated by the database’s cruelty in assigning the Drive a loss despite solidly outscoring their opponents.  Maybe Jamie’s heartbroken about the slow fade of the Drive’s drive to win the title after all these years. Maybe Jamie, like some of the rest of us, doesn’t entirely believe the Wizard’s repeated assurance he doesn’t care about that. Perhaps the Wizard could say a few words to relieve Jamie’s concerns.

 

Haviland:  L, (-1) – 6.  ( 44 PA, .150 ,.227, .175;  2 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA).  I know when the Wolverines suffer, my son’s compassion for me has no bounds. Perhaps Jamie is the same, and doesn’t like today’s stats because they depict a rather stinging loss for the Dragons, dropping them 1.7 games further off the pace. Sure, it’s the 4^th EFL team to register a 0.00 ERA, but it was only over two relief innings. 

Dragon hitters were uncommonly merciful, a virtue Dragons traditionally struggle to master.  But yesterday the proud Dragon franchise produced only 1 extra base (from Brandon Lowe’s double). Only four players (out of 11 batters) reached base twice, but all four did so by walking once and singling once.   Jamie wants so much more for his father – it’s an inspiration to all of us.

 

Canberra:  “W”, 4 – 4. (39 PA, .222, .282, .389;  7.3 ip, 3 er, 3.70 ERA).  Didn’t we see this just a couple of days ago?  Jake Odorizzi struggled (less so this time: 5 ip, 3 er) and everyone else was left to pick up the pieces.  Which Emmanuel Clase and James Karinchak, that amazing relief-corps due, did (2 ip, 0 er).

But sparse hitting (Kyle Tucker 2 for 5 with a homer being an exception)  left the ‘Roos with a hair-thin loss.  The database’s attempt to paper things over with an official win won’t fool anyone.  The Kangaroos fell 1.2 games further off the pace, which I’m certain distresses Jamie.

 

 

Cottage:  L, 7 – 10. (49 PA, .268, .388, .488;  9.3 ip, 7 er, 6.77 ERA). Oh, so close!  The Cheese had a great day at the plate collecting 7 robust runs from three home runs – including one from Ohtani and one from… Abraham Toro!  Toro’s second homer in his two-game Mariners career.  Toro played at second base, as already mentioned, adding defensive flexibility to his promise as an offensive player.

On the pitching side, benched Andre Heaney didn’t crater (6 ip, 3 er). Not to worry, Steven Mats handled the crateringL  3,3 ip, 4 er.  This team’s 6.77 ERA left it no path to keeping up with first place (their deficit leaping from 14.7 to 16.2 games behind).

 

Pittsburgh:  W, 7 – 4. (41 PA, .324, .390, .405;  2 ip, 0 er, 0.00 ERA)  EFL teams with 0.00 ERA’s Sunday: we’re up to 5.  And this time, it produces a solid win, with robust Allegheny hitting despite hitting no home runs.  Kevin Plawecki led the way: 4 for 5 with a double. And The Real Max Muncy was right behind him: 3 for 6 with a double.

Despite Pittsburgh’s solid win, the Alleghenys lost 0.9 games to the Wolverines.  THIS is probably what left Jamie disheartened:  such hard-heartedness on the part of the league leaders.  Jamie intends compassionate dominance if he takes over the lead, not the current stony indifference to the plight of the less fortunate.

 

 

Bellingham:  “W”, 1 – 2.  (27 Pak .174, .231, .174;  13.7 ip,  4 er, 2.63).  Yesterday Jamie praised the Cascades for pitching AND hitting so well, like any good leader helps lift the spirits and remotivate those who might be straggling a bit.  Today I cannot praise the Cascade offense since it kind of stank: only 4 singles and two walks and that’s it.  No extra bases were taken, nor any stolen.  Under those conditions, it’s super – hard to turn a .174 batting average into a win. 

 

To do so you need excellent pitching  Tyler Mahle and Michael Wacha came oh-so-close: 11 scoreless innings between them.  But Anthony Desclafani didn’t help: 2.7 ip, 4 earned runs. If only he had been benched… Instead, the  database gave them the cold comfort of a database win, made even colder when it came with a 1.3- game plunge in the standings, pushing the Cascades into the 20+-games-behind void.

 

 

 

Portland:  W 2, L (-1);  11 – 2.  (47 PA, .333, .404, .738 !!;  7.3 ip, 1 er, 1.23 ERA)

There have been days when it seemed as if there was a link between the Wolverines and Rosebuds, teams at opposite ends of the standings, like the other nine teams are being gently herded (protected? guided?) by a couple of sheep dogs.  Yesterday the connection was exceptionally strong, as the W’s and the R’s both enjoyed 2-win days, the ‘Buds coming with one lost loss.                

Portland achieved this great day despite Andrew Benintendi and Tyler O’Neill both going 0 for 4. Of the eight other Rosebud hitters, six reached base safely at least twice.  Willians Astudillo reveled in Nelson Cruz’ trade to Tampa Bay by going 3 for 6 with a double, and Jorge Polanco went 2 for 6 with a homer and a walk to also reach safely three times.

 

 

 

AL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Old Detroit Wolverines	72	31	.701	—
Flint Hill Tornadoes	69	34	.671	3
Boston Red Sox	63	40	.612	9.2
Tampa Bay Rays	60	42	.588	11.7
New York Yankees	53	47	.530	17.7
Toronto Blue Jays	50	48	.510	19.7
Baltimore Orioles	35	65	.350	35.7

NL East
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
D.C. Balk	63	37	.635	—
Canberra Kangaroos	57	43	.569	6.6
New York Mets	54	46	.540	9.5
Philadelphia Phillies	50	50	.500	13.5
Atlanta Braves	50	52	.490	14.5
Washington Nationals	46	54	.460	17.5
Miami Marlins	44	58	.431	20.5

 

AL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Chicago White Sox	60	42	.588	—
Pittsburgh Alleghenys	53	49	.520	6.9
Bellingham Cascades	52	50	.506	8.4
Cleveland Indians	50	49	.505	8.5
Detroit Tigers	49	55	.471	12
Kansas City Royals	44	56	.440	15
Minnesota Twins	43	60	.417	17.5

NL Central
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Milwaukee Brewers	60	42	.588	—
Cottage Cheese	55	47	.544	4.5
Cincinnati Reds	53	49	.520	7
St. Louis Cardinals	51	51	.500	9
Chicago Cubs	50	53	.485	10.5
Pittsburgh Pirates	38	63	.376	21.5

 

AL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Kaline Drive	63	40	.616	—
Houston Astros	63	40	.612	0.5
Haviland Dragons	60	43	.584	3.4
Oakland A’s	57	46	.553	6.5
Seattle Mariners	55	48	.534	8.5
Los Angeles Angels	51	50	.505	11.5
Texas Rangers	36	66	.353	27

NL West
TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	PCT.	GB
Peshastin Pears	63	38	.628	—
San Francisco Giants	63	38	.624	0.4
Los Angeles Dodgers	62	41	.602	2.4
San Diego Padres	59	45	.567	5.9
Portland Rosebuds	45	56	.441	18.9
Colorado Rockies	44	58	.431	19.9
Arizona Diamondbacks	32	71	.311	32.4